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IRON MAN 2: The Legacy of Howard Stark
May 19th, 2010
All I can give you is my knowledge. – Howard Stark
From the opening, smirking speech Tony delivers at the beginning of Iron Man 2 to old newsreel footage of the impetuous Stark’s very 50s father, “legacy” is a key theme of the film (as mentioned in our inaugural video review). What kind of legacy are we [...]
IRON MAN: well-suited for sequel
May 12th, 2010
BIG plans for Tony Stark: this first review of Iron Man 2 is just a taste of what to come at Cinemagogue. As an avid comic book reader since the 70s, it’s been fascinating to watch a former second-stringer like Tony Stark rocket his way to pop culture Iron icon status. We owe thanks to [...]
Does this movie KICK-ASS?
April 23rd, 2010
If someone told me it was possible to make a movie that was part Watchmen, part Superbad, and part Tarantino film, I’d have said they were more deranged than Rorschach. However, although the most tonally-eclectic film I have ever seen, Kick-Ass works artistically… and despite the controversial R-rated content, the film (written by Catholic comic [...]
Weak God, Limp Lucifer & Wooden Jesus
April 15th, 2010
Although we discussed imperfect Greek gods, and modern myths of a “more fallible Creator” in the last post, the new Clash of the Titans DOES stray from classic polytheism and polarizes the war between Zeus and Hades; save for a few scenes, the rest of the pantheon is scarce. It’s a much more westernized, even [...]
Perseus damns the gods (Thank God!)
April 13th, 2010
The gods need US! They need our prayers! – Cassiopeia, Clash of the Titans
I mentioned in the first Clash of the Titans post that we’d address one of the film’s taglines: “damn the gods”. The queen of Argos speaks brazenly about the Greek pantheon of “gods” that rules over them in this remake of the [...]
Clash of the CLASH of the Titans…
April 9th, 2010
I was SO not impressed. Why did we need a remake of Clash of the Titans? And what about that inaugural tagline: “Titans will Clash”? Ugh, with a marketing team like that on other films we might have had taglines like “War in the Stars” or “Man will Iron 2″. Besides, the ORIGINAL Clash of the [...]
DISTRICT 9 showcases (un?)likely hero
April 5th, 2010
As mentioned in my commentary on the Oscars and Cinemagogue’s Top 10 for 2010, the surprising gem District 9 ranked high on the list; although it didn’t make number 1, it DID boast the most unexpected story with the most intriguing character development I’ve seen in film for quite some time. The transformation of Wikus van [...]
Faith & Sight in The BOOK OF ELI
March 30th, 2010
As we finish our 3-shot review on The Book of Eli (click here for part 1) this last part includes SPOILERS. Curiously enough, I’d read the screenplay prior to seeing the film, knew the twist ending, and still loved it. The “reveal”, though intriguing, didn’t make the movie for me. My final spoiler-laden thoughts are [...]
3 Deep cuts & 3 fun slices of ELI
March 22nd, 2010
In our opening post on The Book of Eli (click here), I promised to carve out 3 points the film makes about man, religious power, and God, so let’s continue:
1. The heat of life brings people’s true nature to the surface…
“When the chips are down, these ‘civilized’ people will eat each other. You’ll see. I’ll [...]
Seen the movie? Now read the BOOK (of Eli)
March 15th, 2010
“Dear Lord… Thank you for guiding me straight and true through the many obstacles in my path…”
The Book of Eli was my favorite film in January 2010, though considering this is usually the month where movies go to die (save for the occasional horror film, so if a film is “undead” it’s okay) Eli didn’t [...]